I know I'm supposed to compose a "Look Ma" post, that after we salve our wounds there should be a celebratory view of the expanse from the new heights the Clips have achieved. And of course I'm thrilled, ecstatic that I didn't have to see Elgin Baylor's catcher's mitt face on that Match Game-cum-NBA Lottery set this afternoon. It gave me great nachis today to send Clipper Nation tees back east to friends who grew up under the Don Chan-sey regimes.

But to bask in the mere legitimacy of the franchise is a little too clichéd for me. But, for what it's worth, I'm proud of the Clippers. We've got our big boy pants on now, don't we?

What you really ask for as a sports fan is a team that won't keep you from feeling like a schmuck for wearing their logo across your chest while you're working out at the gym. The Clippers used to be an expression of irony for guys like me - basketball fans stuck in Los Angeles but who could never stomach the Lakers. Now, they're a full-blown recreation. And why the hell not -- because who wouldn't want to root for these guys?

Elton Brand. Seriously. A player so selfless and beyond reproach that the Times had to sick Michael Hiltzik on him to uncover the slightest appearance of impropriety.

Tell me one team without a championship to their name who wouldn't kill to have Sam Cassell in their backcourt rotation or Shaun Livingston as their point guard of the future?

Think the Clips will get any calls on Corey Maggette this offseason? Or that Baylor isn't terrified of the Koncak treatment Kaman is going to fetch in his qualifying year? And how smug he must feel to have mined Quinton Ross out of the obscurity of the summer league? Ditto James Singleton.

But I feel badly that I'm not more giddily appreciative about it all. Maybe it's because I know that Elton Brand is an NBA Champion at heart and, with the slightest bit of organization support, can own the left block in this league for the next ten years. And I'm certain that Shaun Livingston is a 6'7" freak with PG clairvoyance, that Chris Kaman is a Top Five center, and that Q. Ross is one of those guys you always see in a championship starting lineup.
I say this not as a Pollyanna-ish romantic. Hell, I'm an Atlanta Falcon fan born-and-raised and I was less sold on Michael Vick -- even at the height of the hype -- than I am on the Clippers' future.

Posted Wednesday, October 29 at 3:20PM

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There is no place for giddy appreciation. A healthy dose of disappointment is indeed in order. A healthy dose; not a massive dose, not a Blazers in 2000 dose.

I will admit to being a first year ticket holder. But if you want to call me a front runner, I was the first. I got on board last year in late April. I saw what this squad had and what management had done the few years prior and I saw the 2-for-1 in the 200's deal and I knew this was going to be a great time. Think back to 4/05. This was before Bobby Simmons was allowed to walk and I was already stuck for a 1/3 deposit and I admit to a moment of panic mixed with anger. Then came Cat, then came Sam and I was saying to anyone that would listen, This team can win the Pacific. They said I was crazy.

And then the season started and the week they beat up on Cleveland, Miami, New York and Phoenix. I said this team can win the West. (Which was later to be shockingly echoed by the Round Mound of Wasting Time and Space.)

And then Maggs went down. But verily, this team had depth and other heroes emerged. Beats were missed, but the season was not lost.

Pockets of Clipper Nation began to form under my leadership on the Westside and to the south in Long Beach. Basketball fans were beginning to see what I foresaw. This Clipper team was built to win and eerily in the mold of the Spurs. Except they were young and not floppy euros.

This team could have won the West. Game 5 was lost on two offensive possessions with the ball in the hands of our crafty veteran. He has noone to blame.

The result IS disappointing. Not because they let us down, but because that group of guys is special. I don't know if there is a right way to play basketball, but if there is it entails enjoying the game and respecting the game and being a team and this team was and did all of that. These Clippers were the anti-Lakers. The NBA is better off if this team sticks together and is successful and I feel lucky to have been around it. But I am disappointed it was not enough to win this time.

You hold all the cards Mr. Sterling. It will be disappointing if you trade Maggette to the Bulls for the #2 pick. If two members of this squad slip through your fingers 2007 will be my last year in section 208. Do the right thing.

Amare is an athlete, not a basketball player. Errrrrrrrrr, WAS an athlete before the surgery. So if he isn't a basketball player and he isn't an athlete, what's left? A $15M per year roster bomb for about...well forever. And with Colangelo gone, who will trick the Knicks into taking this suddenly bad contract off their hands?

I know the only reason people move to Phoenix is to get away from black people, but do you folks have to keep cutting up the Suns knees too? Kidd, Penny and now Amare? It might be the most racist thing I have ever seen.

This was definitely a season of "firsts" for the clips. Besides all the new records they set, FIRST road playoff game vs Denver... loss. FIRST 2nd round road playoff game 1 vs PHX... loss. FIRST playoff game 7... loss. They definitely bounced back, and will bounce back in 06-07.

But it’s more that anyone could have expected, especially after they let fan favorite Bobby Simmons go in the off season. In hindsight, and for an extra 2 mil, could the defensive skills of the most improved player have made a difference in this series? If I remember correctly, Simmons developed a nice little outside jumper for himself in that off-season. I think he may have been the best defensive player on the team, at that time.

Back to the “feel-good, rosy” stuff. In the mid 4th, there was a stretch where Livingston controlled 3-4 possessions in a row. He took the ball off the dribble a few times and even took a pull up jumper (non-transition). I thought to myself… damn! He can create a shot for himself whenever he wants. He can pull up over or post any of the shorter guards in the league, and he’s long enough to defend the 1s and 2s, short or tall. At this point, its all mental development for #14, not that 15-20 lbs wouldn’t help.

AND KEVIN, I know you love Mobley and all his intangibles. BUT, lets just say Mike D gives Corey the “we want you to be 1st a defensive / rebound monster and 2nd a drive to the basket monster” AND lets just say that Corey stays healthy enough to get a full year of PT with all these pieces. IF Corey were to buy in, wouldn’t you rather give up Mobley (aged) and keep Corey (still young)?

(1) Simmons: Loved Bobby, but thought Baylor was right to pass on him at 5 years/$47 million. Too expensive. And when you consider what Bobby did vs. Detroit in 5 games this postseason (14-for-42), I think we can affirm Elgin's decision.

(2) The Clips went hard after Allen and Redd -- never really had a chance for either -- and needed to get a 2. Yes, I like Mobley more than you do. But I would agree that if Denver would take him off our hands (we'd probably have to take Najera and/or Patterson in his last year, etc. They're the only team in desperate need of a two guard in a league that's flooded with them.

But as a rule, I find hypotheticals like this to be pointless conversations. The bottom line is we have Mobley locked up for 4 more years and $35M. There aren't a lot of teams that will take on the length of that contract -- though I suspect that, as that contract gets closer to expiration and the cap number goes up -- there will be plenty more takers for Cat in his final year or two at $9M/per, if for no other reason than to clear cap space.

Do I think the Clippers would've thrown that money at Mobley had they known Ross would develop as he had? Probably not.

But, then again, without Mobley this year, the Clippers are an 8 seed (maybe) because both Ross and Maggette missed a whole lotta time. That's what Maggette does -- he misses time. Every year. And I think durability is probably the most underrated attribute in the NBA. Just ask the Rockets. Or Bernard King.

When the Clippers ripped off 9 out of 11 in late Jan-early Feb with Maggette out, pre-Vlad and Ross on limited minutes, Mobley put up consistent numbers night after night. They weren't sexy, athletic, ooohs-and-ahhhs kinda points, but they were effective. In that 6 game road trip back east in which the Clips went 4-2 and established themselves as a legitimate team, Cat played no fewer than 45 minutes in any of those 6 games, and averaged 19.9 points.

Is he Joe Dumars? No.

But right now the Mobley-or-Maggette question is just silly. It's fantasy basketball talk. Unless we can find a taker for Mobley (and again, if we can, let's move him), it's not a discussion worth having.

Now, I'd love to have Corey as a Sixth Man if here were open to it, but listening to him on The Big Show yesterday, he doesn't sound like he's amenable.

That being the case, I don't think the Clippers make it to a conference finals without a legitmiate wing defender. With the exception of PHX, I can't think of a team that's made the conference finals in recent memory that's done so. And we ain't PHX.

If we were to move Mobley in favor of Maggette, we'll be screaming his name once Corey goes down around New Years and we've got nobody who knows how to defend a screen and roll (and, yes, Corey falls squarely into that category).

The San Antonio Spurs won a championship with 2/3 of Stephen Jackson and Bruce Bowen. The Pistons with Hamilton and Prince.

Given that, what attributes do you want in your wing players when the focal point of your offense is your guy in the post and the person who delivers him the ball?

That's all I'm saying. Sometimes...often...less is more.

05/25/06 08:51:55

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